


This Halloween

by papyruspie



Series: TNG High School AU [1]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bittersweet, Family, Gen, Halloween, Hopeful Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27329068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/papyruspie/pseuds/papyruspie
Summary: Data’s twin brother Lore was always enthusiastic about Halloween. This Halloween, however, he did not appear to be.(From the universe of a high school AU I’ve been working on)
Relationships: Data & Lore (Star Trek)
Series: TNG High School AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073417
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	This Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> I was bit by the inspiration bug last night and stayed up wayyyy too late writing this. I always seem to write my best stuff when I should be asleep, though, so... yay for my lack of sleep? Haha.
> 
> Edit: Just realized, I should probably explain that this is a somewhat futuristic High School AU, so Data and Lore are still androids. I won’t really get into the details here, but they have been growing up similarly to human children (ie, kinda actually aging).

Data still had yet to understand Halloween, even though he was now mentally 17 years old... and this _was_ his 15th Halloween. You dress up as a well-known figure or fictional character, and go door-to-door at night, asking for candy? Not even minding the subtle threat that went with the phrase “trick or treat”, Halloween certainly was another unique aspect of humanity that Data was not able to truly comprehend. Or fully appreciate. His taste sensors only were able to analyze the components of food (in the case of Halloween, sucrose based sweets), not taste them as a human would. So, he could not fully understand the appeal.

His twin brother Lore, on the other hand... Lore very much enjoyed  and  understood Halloween. Lore was already much more rambunctious than Data, and he really let loose every October 31st. Unlike most celebrators of Halloween, Lore took trick and treat in equal measure. Data always had to be careful waking up on Halloween mornings, watching out for any elaborate pranks Lore may have set up in attempt to confuse him. Improbable and nonsensical things, that should not be there and yet are... until Lore would leap out, laughing and revealing that the Idelphian gak-tung on the ceiling was actually a holographic image he scrambled to not register as such to a positronic brain. 

Data knew not to trust his senses on Halloween anymore. So, as he got up on this Halloween, he had the same caution as he usually did on Halloween morning. However, oddly enough, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Lore was still asleep in the bed to the right of Data’s (typically Lore never set his internal chronometer to wake himself, with the exception being Halloween), and the silence in their room was almost serene. How strange. It did not appear that Lore had set up a prank, and Data had never known his brother to throw him off like this; if there was a prank, it would be loud and noticeable. But nothing was to be seen. Data shrugged it off, sliding out of bed and walking over to Lore, gently shaking him awake. 

“Lore, it is time to get ready for school,” Data said.

“Unghhh... I’ll get up soon, okay?” Lore muttered, half-asleep. 

Data shook his head almost fondly. “That is what you always say,” he reminded. “And you never do actually ‘get up soon’ after that.”

“Yeah, yeah, gimme a break,” Lore groaned, giving up on any extra sleep and sitting up in bed.

“It is Halloween today,” Data stated while moving back to his own bed to neatly make it. He was curious as to what Lore’s reaction would be. Perhaps his brother had somehow forgotten the date? 

“I’m well aware,” was Lore’s reply as he slowly got out of bed, carelessly throwing his sheets back onto it before facing his brother with a firm gaze. 

Data treaded carefully, skirting around the subject of a prank-less Halloween for the time-being. “Of course,” he nodded as he looked through his dresser. “Are you ready to be ‘ketchup and mustard’ today?” he asked light-heartedly, taking the yellow t-shirt he required for the costume out of the top drawer. 

“No,” Lore answered, voice cracking a little as he grabbed a plain black shirt from his own dresser.

“No?” Data repeated, confused. “But Halloween is your favourite holiday, is it not? First, you do not prank me, and now you do not even wish to dress up for the occasion?”

“I just... I’m sick of it, Data,” Lore sighed, sliding over to his bed and flopping onto it.

“Of what? The act of preparing for Halloween?” Data questioned innocently, sitting down beside Lore on his bed.

“Of how we’re treated at school. Like, what is the point of dressing up when we’re just gonna get taunted at and made fun of anyways? They’re always treating us badly just because we’re different.”

Data nodded, “That is true,” and... it was. Neither Data nor Lore had any friends at school, as the other students were either afraid of them or bullies to them. The brother liked to stick together whenever possible at school, because, despite their own differences, they were each other’s only friend. The only ones to understand what it was like to be an android in a world full of organic lifeforms.

“Remember what you told me when we started high school, brother?” Data asked. “You said, ‘to hell with what they think’. I believe that may be of importance right now.”

Lore snorted. “Thanks. But you don’t know how lucky you are sometimes. To not have emotions. Ya know, most of the time I can ignore it, not let it get to me, but... this is the third damn year of it, and nothing’s changed. I  _hate_ this! And dad won’t do a thing either, he’s on his ‘they’ll understand eventually boys, you can’t force acceptance’ bullcrap. Gahhh!” he screamed in frustration.

Data wished in times like these that he was able to emotionally connect to his brother. But, the best he could do was tell him, “I am sorry you are feeling this way. Our father is certainly... an interesting individual,”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Lore interjected.

“And our classmates certainly are not agreeable... so, if you truly do not wish to participate in this Halloween, I will support you on the decision,” Data finished.

Lore looked up at Data and gave him a small smile. “Thanks, Data.”

“You are welcome,” he nodded. “Perhaps tonight we can watch some horror movies? I know you enjoy them, and I find them most intriguing.”

“Sure,” Lore agreed. “Now, look at the time. We’re gonna be late if we don’t hurry, and you wouldn’t like that!” He exclaimed jokingly.

“Tardiness is not a desirable trait in students,” Data acknowledged. “However, it is Halloween, so you might say to be late would be terrifying, even.” 

“Psh, what a lame joke, Data.” Lore said as they got up and finished getting dressed. 

“I was not attempting for humour; merely a clever usage of wording matching the theme of today.”

“That sounds like humour to  _me_ ,” Lore insisted.

“Huh,” Data sounded out in pleasant surprise, as they headed downstairs. The two threw their backpacks on, and headed out the door.

“Sometimes, it is nice to be an android,” Lore noted as the brothers briskly walked to school in the cool fall air, “Don’t have to worry about breakfast when we’re in a rush.” 

“That is true,” Data admitted. “Perhaps someday, others will see that too.”

“Perhaps,” Lore repeated, a spark of hope in his voice, “Perhaps.”

While school that day was much the same as always, the brothers found solace in some scary movies and each other that Halloween night, and they felt less alone in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween!! :)
> 
> So yeah: this is a bit of my TNG High School AU! I wrote most of my first chapter of the AU a while back, before I realized it was rather dull (with the premise being there’s a friendship club being formed at school, and how our characters end up there, some of them reluctantly... most of the chapter was just explaining how each of them ended up there). So I kinda scrapped it... but I’m thinking of taking it up again with more of a focus on the Soong brothers (B-4 would be included eventually... I already have figured out most of the brothers’ backstory in this universe lol), with other TNG characters as more minor characters to the story. So this is a little Halloween snapshot into their life!
> 
> ...and yes, it’s a bunch of nonsense for how Lore pranks Data. Oh well. The best Lore can do is confuse Data, since he can’t really scare him.


End file.
